The University of British Columbia is situated on Point Grey, an upland area of Vancouver which is underlain primarily by unconsolidated deposits associated with the Pleistocene glaciation.  Around the western and northern margins of the campus these sediments are exposed as sea cliffs.  The cliffs have been eroding slowly and naturally for the past 10,000 years, however as a result of various human activities and interventions during the 20^th century, the rate of erosion has increased dramatically.  Numerous buildings, including the famous Museum of Anthropology, plus roads and other infrastructure at UBC have been threatened.

Click on an image for a larger version

Since the1960s, various measures have been taken to stabilize the cliffs.  Some of these measures have been successful, while others have not, and there is still considerable concern about the stability of the area.

Your assignment is to write an essay on the origins of the instability and erosion problems of the Point Grey cliffs, with a description of the remediation work that has been done to date.  To the extent that you can, please provide an evaluation of how successful that work has been.  Your essay should be no longer than two typed pages (not including any figures that you might wish to add).  You should begin with a brief description of the geology of the Point Grey area.

I strongly recommend that you take a look at the Geology 100 Field Trip website created by Carlo Giovanella of the UBC Geology Department: http://www.eos.ubc.ca/public/resources/slidesets/cag/fieldtrip/photo_start.html

You will find some useful information in this Greater Vancouver Regional District document: http://web.mala.bc.ca/earle/pt-grey/gvrd-pg-document-full.pdf  I suggest that you read the sections entitled Background and Causes of Cliff Erosion, but you may wish to read the entire document.

The Geomap Vancouver geological map shown above is explained at:: http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/urbgeo/geomapvan/index_e.php

There is also some background information at this site: http://www.english.ubc.ca/projects/trail3/beaches/